Thursday, 8 November 2012

Taking to the seas in Turkey.

A stand out highlight of the whole trip, but most definitely our time in Turkey, was our few days aboard a traditional wooden gulet in Southern Turkey. Charlie, Chris and I made our way from ballooning in Cappaddocia, to the hippie beach hangout of Olympos, the start of our blue cruise. The trip lasted four days, sailing the Mediterranean making new friends, swimming in the sea, basking in the sun and generally enjoying ourselves immensely. Sailing trips are the way forward, so we have decided!...no irritating sand getting into every nook and cranny, and a new destination each day; sailing trips to us young'uns are what cruises are to the oldies - simply awesome!

Pancake lady!

Whilst on board we were treated to delicious meals of fresh fish, barbecued kofte and even had the opportunity to buy ice creams and traditional guzleme (Turkish pancakes) from speed boat merchants selling their wares in the docking bays in the afternoons. With a fridge full of beer, wine and soft drinks and an ipod dock banging out amazing euro pop tunes (thanks to the fun-loving Spanish contingent on board) we really could not have wanted for anything more. In the evenings we had one giant sleep over on deck, slumbering under the stars and waking with the heat of the first rays of sunlight on our faces.

The trip took us from Olympos to Fethiye, stopping off at a few sights and snorkelling points on the way including the sunken city of Kekova, the quaint fishing village of Kas, Butterfly Valley and the famous Oludeniz beach with its blue lagoon. We were even treated to a night out in a clandestine bar, rather aptly named The Smugglers Inn, only accessible by boat, in one of the national parks. It was a hilarious night out with a little shuttle boat picking everyone up from the gulets moored around the bay and dropping us all back again in the early hours. With nowhere to escape to and nothing to do but embrace the fun everyone got right into the spirit of things and danced crazily away long into the night!

Our gang on board!

Perhaps the best thing about being on the boat was the fact that you were positively forced to sit back and relax; there were no meals to prepare, no emails or internet to catch up with, literally nothing to do but read a book, swim, eat, and perhaps take a nap. I think the biggest decisions I made during a day were whether to jump into the sea for a swim or to carry on sunbathing and whether to have a glass of wine or a beer....hard times! If you really want to get away from it all and, like me, you are not very good at switching off from the world then this could well be the holiday for you!

Our blue cruise was operated by V-Go Yachting and Travel. Although a little chaotic at the beginning (picking everyone up, getting them to the right boats etc), once we were on board the crew were fabulous and we had a super time. In all honesty though, most of the boats were all the same so as long as you do your research and go with a reputable looking company you should be fine!